Best Party Snacks for Braces Wearers

If you’re getting braces, you’ll quickly notice that most typical party foods are exactly the foods that you’re told to avoid. Hard pizza crust, chips, and candy are snacks that can break your braces—and you definitely don’t want that to happen at a party! 

So the question is, what are the best types of foods to serve at a party if you wear braces, or if you’re inviting friends over who have braces? Check out this list for great ideas. 

Snacks for Braces

• Fresh Fruit. Serving fruit is a great option. Citrus fruits QE’s melons berries and bananas are great healthy options. Pick up a big fruit bowl and some fruit dip or put a bowl of fruit on the table. As a bonus, fruit is healthy and gives you fresh breath. Avoid eating whole apples.
• Bread and cheese. Fresh bread, including rolls, pita bread, and other types of soft foods and breads are good choices for braces wearers. Artisan breads with dense crusts are hard to eat if you have braces and can break off brackets or bend wires. Try serving a platter of assorted breads with hummus, cream cheese, whipped butter, or cubed pieces of cheese. Cheese is a good snack for braces wearers, and as a bonus, it’s also high in protein.
• Smoothies. Smoothies are a lot of fun to make at a party and can be easily enjoyed by just wearing braces as well as anyone else. Create a custom smoothie bar or have someone blending in the kitchen for a while. Smoothies are a lot of fun and can be as healthy or not healthy as you want. Add ice cream or sugar to make them more dessert like or stick with fruits and a few vegetables to go all healthy.
• Drinks. Tea, coffee, juice, and hot chocolate are all fine for people wearing braces. Drinking soda can contribute to tooth decay and bad breath, but it’s usually fine to drink every once in a while if you’re wearing braces. Just make sure you brush and floss regularly.
• Sushi. Fresh sushi is easy to eat for braces wearers, as long as the seaweed doesn’t get stuck in your teeth. As a bonus, it contains Omega-3 and has a host of nutritional benefits. If you’re unsure about raw fish, try mock sushi.

Snacks to Avoid

In general, the foods braces wearers should avoid eating at a party include crunchy foods like chips, sticky foods like caramels or taffy candy, and fresh vegetable trays with broccoli, celery or carrots. All of these foods could bend wires or break off brackets. If you’d like to serve a vegetable tray at a party with braces wearers, include easier to crunch veggies like sugar snap peas and thin slices of jicama. In addition, you should avoid eating any other foods your orthodontist told you to stay away from while wearing braces. 

At Dunn orthodontics, we want to help you get a happy, healthy smile. If you ever have questions about which foods you need to avoid while wearing braces, contact us.